Oahu Impression

Oahu Impression:

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Submitted by eckhart diestel on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 4:48pm



Bodywork:
images also on:
http://oc1design.blogspot.com/


#1 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 5:39pm


So what exactly happened to that canoe? Or is it just several lifetimes of accumulated wear and tear?


#2 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 5:03pm


I paddled it yesterday and it went well. Thus I decided to finish it and make a competitive boat out of it.

The bottom has some areas where things need to be cleaned up - that's what you see there.
It is has 5 or 6 different layers of epoxy/duratec on the hull. One layer was not good enough, I scraped it off again etc. Now it's 'for real' to make it a choice grade finish - the hull for now. The deck will have to wait.

Here is a pic of the boat today, drying. I reworked the bow too.


#3 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 5:17pm


Eckhart,

Is the hull super fair over all ? If not, don't kill yourself ( literally and figuratively ) to get the surface mirror smooth, your just gonna redo it anyway ... I know, but you will .. LOL.

If its pretty close, good time now to get a even coat of something on it to hava look overall and just use it... All those little patches start to play tricks on you after a while.

Q: What is the cord width on that rudder ?


#4 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 5:51pm


Ecky, that is a very high aspect rudder or is it just that the stern is low and makes the rudder look tall and narrow?


#5 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 5:59pm


Who was the original builder of this canoe?
The rough finish gives it the war look, charge!


#6 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 6:23pm


Ono - The hull is actually not patched very much. I made the mistake to push a part of the layup down with duct tape, that led to a depression and so forth.
The hull is pretty fair meanwhile, you can't see it because of the different layers of Duratec.
I agree - once I decide that I really want that boat I will probably build a copy with all the little changes done right from the beginning.

Rambo - it is a self made high aspect ratio rudder : 11 1/2 height, 3 inch chord and about 1/4 inch thick at ~ 25 % of the chord. I made it a little longer than the original design to have more effect in larger waves.
The deck is super low in the back ~ 2 inches throughout, up to 4 inches towards the bow.

This will hurt the performance in some conditions. My hope is that these moments are relatively rare and that I have an overall benefit with the design.

Upwind it is wave piercing as intended, very cool. Downwind it surprised me quite a bit. My thought is to keep the hull speed higher by reducing changes in trim, bow up/ bow down.
It seems to work. I feel that I am in a better position at take off more often.

General hull speed in the flat is between Hurrican and Zephyr. This is expected due to the increased the length of waterline by 1 foot and barely narrowed hull at waterline, maybe 1/4 plus inches. That is design, have not measured in the water.
The speed was without fairing the hull too much and with a waveblade ama that is just sitting there, but nowhere trimmed to perform.
With the hull and bow finished and the ama set up optimized, it should move inches closer to Hurricane flat water performance. That is compared with my Hurricane with the forward seat/foot well.

It might lag a bit because of the increased wet surface area.
However. because of more volume the boat should do a little better when the wind starts to blow.

The boat is roughly 6 inch shorter than a Huricane, has 20 feet waterline by design, that is one foot longer than the Hurricane; not measured in the water yet.

One thing is amazing: it is quite a new paddling experience, while not entirely different. For now I think that the boat has less ups and downs, less stop and go in the following sea, it is a more fluent experience.
Just paddled it for 2 hours so far. More impressions in different conditions.

glasscasepaddler have a look at:

http://oc1design.blogspot.com in the section 'building an OC 1' for some info about the boat/building.
I am tempted to leave the entire hull with that speckled appearance and make the top all white - the downside would be that you can't see any cracks.

One more thing that I really like: it is fiberglass, ~ 25 lbs, very solid and no dings whenever you hit something; very different compared to the brittle carbon.


#7 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 6:55pm


Thanks ...

I can tell its smooth, by "patches" I meant breaks in the overal visual. Our eyes are amazingly accurate but that stuff makes it tougher.

Eckhart, IMHO you can cut at least 3" off that rudder and
lose nothing but drag. .250" width is cool.

Aloha,
pog


#8 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 6:50pm


Onno, thanks for the tip on the rudder. I think the original design was for 9 inch. I may just do that and cut it down again. :)


#9 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 6:54pm


Onnopaddle, in your experience how much gain do you see between hull fairing 'all right' and hull fairing 'choice grade' ?


#10 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 7:02pm


Understood .. similar to the 'connected' feel you get with a super low volume kayak. Almost like you are semi - submersed.


#11 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 6:59pm


ASSuming the form is fair as you want to deal with for now, your 320-wetsanded-to-600 surface with all the different stuffs on it is not really gonna slow you down noticeably. If you like the deck well enough to think about molding it, spray it and buff it out. Leave the hull as is for now and scare people @ mark roundings. Don't hesitate to cut down that blade @ the root though.


#12 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 7:05pm


You' d rather cut the root than the tip ?
Doesn't the chord get a little too short after all ?

I am using a 'knife sharpening' stone block from Don Quijote as a sanding block for fairing .
It is quite heavy, the weight gives it a good glide while fairing. Fairing the hull is fun again. Can use it with or without sandpaper.


#13 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 7:13pm


Sorry to toss you into more work ... if you had a mold of the blade this would be easy instead of going through tapering @ the tip again ... by all means just lop off @ the tip and re-foil.

Ultimate wetsanding / surface fairing block ... 6mm 5 pound foam about 6" x 4" ... triple stack if using 3lb foam.


#14 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 7:20pm


For fairing, i like a 2ft long semi-stiff board with very thin foam pad. Seems to ride the hull shape better and leaves no undulations.

Rambo


#15 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 7:48pm


Not something from the other thread right ?

Yep, biggest problem is holding the whole, foam-glassed-bondoed-don't-want-to-make-more-work thing down while you use two hands like you want with the board.

Still like 3-4" wide here.


#16 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 8:01pm


Yeah but you're a skilled tradesman, we're just Gumbies and can't shoot a straight line between us.... hahaa

It is nice to have one hand free to FEEL the hull as you work, rather than see.

Rambo


#17 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 8:09pm


Feeling is even better, especially when you are standing over the roughed out project with bad light feeling for port / starboard symmetry. Helps to have a solid backround to contrast too.

I call my boats "art over science"

The hulls are for science and are drawn / templated etc ...

I freehand the decks with minimal interference other than some 'hard points' need to hit for ergonomics. Double checking for symmetry comes afta'


#18 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 8:20pm


Forgot to add ...

Rambo, uainnogumby

Aloha,
pog


#19 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 8:25pm


Pog , not sure that feeling (reaching) for a "port" is the right thing to be doing while fairing a hull, you might have too much and rub a hole in the hull.... hahaha.

I freeehand the decks too, then go pull out all the glass splinters from my hand and conclude i need to fair the hull some more. Takes a while for us OZZies to learn.

Cheers Rambo


#20 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 8:54pm


LOL .. I do my best work when on port : )

My brother ( wood artisan/antique reproducer/refinisher ) tells his customers with a straight face. "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna strip your piece with alcohol."


#21 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 9:04pm


Looks like a K-1 Olympic kayak converted to OC-1? I remember a Van Deusen K-1 Eagle with ama zipping up and down the Ala Wai in the early 90's.


#22 Sat, 01/03/2009 - 4:11am


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